Repairing Siding This Old House

Snap out the old piece.

Repairing siding this old house.

We tear off the damaged hardboard and replace it with fiber cement siding. It ll better match the house than brand new siding. Tack a batten to the water table horizontally to guide the saw and ensure a straight 90 degree cut. Unlike wood clapboards vinyl siding is so thin and flexible that each piece has to lock onto the ones above and below to keep a house weatherproof.

Power tools are out for this job. Use framing square and utility knife to cut through face of siding. So when a piece of vinyl breaks the key to making the repair is a zip tool a miniature curved pry bar with a metal hook at its tip to unlock the siding. Cut piece of faded siding from an inconspicuous spot to replace the damaged section.

Instead you can size the replacement using the old clapboard as a template a simple technique that virtually guarantees a tight fit on the first try. Forget the tape measure tom says. Prep the old siding to get rid of most of the rot and allow you to remove the 2x8 make a horizontal cut through the siding 1 inches above the 2x8 s top edge. Here s how to use it.

The sheathing and framing sometimes need repairs too but that is less common. Pull siding away from house and cut through the bottom edge with aviation snips. Remove the wood then the nails.